Strength training is critically important for OCR’s,
however at the end of the day, if you don’t have the cardio to carry you through, your strength will not mean much come race day. I have spent the past
4 days reviewing my progress in terms of leg, back, chest, & core strength,
so to close out my 5-day training review, I am going to look at my progress in
terms of cardiovascular training.
Cardio training was one of the
primary reasons that I signed myself up for the Spartan race 40 days ago.
Intuitively, I know that cardio is one of, if not the, most important form of
exercise for long-term health & vitality, yet despite this knowledge, I have
always had a tough time sticking to a cardio training plan with any consistency.
Similar to what I discussed yesterday in my post on core strength training,
cardiovascular proficiency does not have the same appeal as a heavy squat,
deadlift, or bench. You can often identify someone with a strong bench or
deadlift simply by looking at them; with cardio this is not the case. Cardio is
not aesthetic it is functional, which makes the results more
difficult to identify & substantiate, often resulting in a loss of
motivation early in a training plan.
To combat the loss of motivation
that I have experienced in the past, I have been working hard on improving my
cardiovascular output in the same fashion as my strength goals; by meticulously
tracking my performance & focusing on incrementally improving during each workout.
Now that the weather up here in the frigid north finally appears to be above
freezing for good, it is time to hit the trails harder than ever. In this post
I will first review my progress on my existing cardio training plan, & then
outline how I intend to change up my cardiovascular training routine over the
final 8 weeks leading up to my race.
Cardiovascular
Exercises
First, I will review my progress
on the 4 cardiovascular activities that I have completed over the past 6 weeks.
If you would like to read the rational on why I chose each exercise, I
discussed it in my day 9 post on cardio training.
- HIIT
Elliptical: I originally
chose the elliptical machine because of it’s low-impact nature. In the past
when I have, against all odds, convinced myself to begin a running program, I’ve
acted as the extremist that I am & dove in headfirst, completing 3-4 long
runs a week which inevitably resulted in knee, back, & joint pain, as well
as abandoned running goals. Instead of repeating this mistake, I opted instead
to cut down on the high-impact running to start, & to complete more cardio
on the elliptical which is lower impact & easier to recover from. I am a major
proponent of high-intensity interval training, so I have been focusing on intense,
20-minute cardio sessions that push me to my limits anaerobically. When first
starting out, I found that I was quickly able to progress in this exercise,
moving from an exhausted 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off 20-minute session at
level 5, all the way up to my most recent session where I was able to complete
the same 30 second on, 30 second off interval at level 10. This progress has
been mentally rewarding, as each time I’m on the elliptical I have been either
able to crank up the resistance a level, or improve the amount of ‘high-intensity’
time that I am completing relative to the ‘low-intensity’ time. Each time when
I get on the elliptical, I promise myself that I will get better in some way than last time. Since it’s just
20 minutes of exercise, I find I can push myself through to achieve the results
that I want. That said, although this continuous improvement has been great, there
are not going to be any elliptical tests come race day. For that reason, moving
forward I am going to be cutting my elliptical sessions down to once per week
on my leg training days, opting instead for more trail work.
Progress: 20 minutes at level 5, 30 seconds high-intensity, 30 seconds low-intensity to 20 minutes at level 10, 90 seconds high-intensity, 30 seconds low-intensity
- Rope
Pull-Down: also known
as the endless rope machine, this exercise is brand new to me, but given the
amount of rope climbing & pulling involved in the Spartan Race, I
identified it as a good exercise to get familiar with prior to race day. When I
first attempted this exercise, I was blown away at how difficult it was. My
original plan was to complete 20 minutes of 90 seconds on, 30 seconds off,
however I quickly discovered that after 30 seconds on this machine, my arms felt
as though they were filled with battery acid. For my first set, I was only able
to complete 10 minutes at the second lowest level, even while completing just
30 seconds of activity for every 30 seconds of rest. Since this time, I have
improved to level 4, but still find anything more than 30 seconds of
high-intensity training too difficult to keep up. I am going to continue to
utilize the rope pull down & look to get to the top level of 8. If I am
able to complete 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off at this level, I will begin to
increase the length of my high-intensity bursts between my breaks however I am
instead focusing on increasing the resistance level as I will not have to climb
a rope for more than 30 seconds at any point in the race.
Progress: 10 minutes at level 2, 30 seconds high-intensity, 30 seconds low-intensity to 20 minutes at level 4, 30 seconds high-intensity, 30 seconds low-intensity
- HIIT
Treadmill: I utilized
the treadmill quite often at the beginning of my training program because there
was still snow on the ground outside, however as the weather has improved, I
have started to taper off the amount of treadmill running that I have been completing,
opting instead for trail runs which better mimick race day conditions. In the 6
weeks of sporadic treadmill sessions, I have been able to increase my running
output substantially since my first day when I was only able to complete 10
minutes of 90-seconds on, 30-seconds of high-intensity training at level 8.0.
Since that time, I have been able to maintain the same 90, 30 split, but
increased the amount of time spent running to 10 minutes, & the speed to
8.6; a substantial increase. Moving forward I am going to aim to do the bulk of
my running outside on the trails, however I will still utilize the treadmill on
occasion if the weather does not co-operate or if I cannot get out on the
trails for some other reason. Each time I conduct an HIIT treadmill session, I
will look to increase the speed by 0.2 while maintaining my 90 seconds on, 30
seconds off pace.
Progress: 10 minutes at level 8.0, 90 seconds high-intensity, 30 seconds low-intensity to 20 minutes at 8.6, 90 seconds high-intensity, 30 seconds low-intensity
- Trail Run: last, but not least, the trails are finally snow-free & dry
enough that my excuses for avoiding running outside are all but gone. I have
not gotten out on the trails as much as I would have liked over the first 40
days, however I was still able to get out 7 times & will be looking to run on
the trails 2 to 3 times per week for the remaining 8 weeks, which will equate
to between 16 & 24 trail runs. As I discussed in my post on trail runs, I
first found it very difficult to set a pace when first getting out on the
trails, something that the MapMyRun application has been very helpful with. I
have now settled into a better pace of around 5:30 minutes per kilometre, a
number that I would like to get below 5 minutes by race day, but am comfortable
with at the moment as I look to stretch out the maximum distance that I am able
to run.
Progress: 6.33km in 36:15 at a pace of 5:44 minutes per kilometre to 9.55km in 50:36 at a pace of 5:18 minutes per kilometre
Cardio
Training Changes
Overall, I am not as far along in my running abilities as I would
have liked to have been at this point, however I am comfortable with where I am
at because I know the amount of sweat & hard work that I have put in over the past 6 weeks. I believe going into this
journey, I had some unrealistic expectations in terms of what my existing
running abilities were, as well as how quickly it was possible to advance ones’
running performance. Putting in the training that I have & still feeling as
though I have a very long way to go has been a humbling experience, & it
makes me very grateful that I started on this journey when I did, & did not
wait until a few weeks out to begin running because I would have been in very big
trouble.
Moving forward, I am going to
continue with all 4 cardio exercises that I have completed thus far, however I
am going to decrease my elliptical training to once per week, leave my rope
pull-down at once per week, & only use the treadmill when necessary due to
inclement weather or a time crunch. Instead I am going to look to be getting
out on the trails 2 to 3 times per week, which will mean I am doing cardio 5
times per week, ideally with 3 of those occurrences being out on the trail.
Within those 3 days of trail
running per week, I am going to focus on three specific areas: HIIT sprints,
HIIT hill training, & one long run per week. First, on Mondays I will be
conducting high-intensity interval training sprints on the trail with burpees
mixed in. This week, I will set a baseline of the number of sprints & burpees that I can complete in a 30-minute period, & look to increase my output each week from there. On Wednesdays I will be
completing a hill training focused run, which will involve a light jog to the
largest hill in my area, after which I will look to run sprints up the hill
& walk back down. Again I will set a baseline this week & look to make incremental gains each week from this baseline, but I will look to spend 20 minutes on the hills,
prior to running back. Finally, Saturday mornings will be my ‘long run.’ On my
long run, I am going to start at 10km this Saturday (April 28th),
& look to add 2 km to my run each week, ultimately culminating with a 24km
run on June 16th, which will be one week before my race. Throughout this training, I will look to
improve upon or maintain my current pace of 5:14 minutes per kilometre.
In conclusion, I am content with
the progress that I have made thus far, however I am acutely aware that I still have a very long way
to go & not a lot of time to get there. One thing worth noting, is that I believe my ability to triple my burpee output from 30 repetitions to 105 repetitions over the past 6 weeks is largely
attributable to my increased cardiovascular abilities. Burpees, box jumps,
& many other exercises involved in my routine have a strong anaerobic
& cardiovascular element, so I believe not only are these exercises helping
me increase my cardio, but they are benefiting from the gains in anaerobic
& cardiovascular activities that I have enjoyed.Over the next 8 weeks, I will look to incrementally build upon these gains to make sure I am ready to conquer my race come June 23rd!
100-Day Spartan
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